Govind Jaiswal, son of a rickshaw puller, rose against all odds to become an IAS officer

How often have you come close to giving up your dreams, when the burdens of daily life pull you down? We tend to blame our failures on the situation or on the environment and eventually give up too soon; isn’t it? Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, ‘When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.‘ It seems Govind Jaiswal, son of a rickshaw puller, has just followed that. Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the toughest Civil Services Exam of India, is a hard nut to crack, but Govind Jaiswal proved that if you are determined enough, success will become your slave. By securing 48th position in the IAS exam of 2006, Govind Jaiswal has entered his name in the history with golden words. Nothing could stop him from realizing his dreams, hence strongly influencing us to believe nothing is impossible. Govind Jaiswal is a true example of hard work and determination.

Govind was born in a family of three sisters with being the youngest brother. When Govind was of tender age 11, once went to play at his considerably rich and respected friend’s house. But within few minutes he was thrown out from the house in a very disgraceful and insulted manner. Vindictive taunts and phrases like ‘However much you study, you will still be a rickshaw-puller’s son’ and ‘What is your worth?’ were very common in his life to stumble upon on a daily basis. But these taunts and insults didn’t make any negative impact on his mind, but made him determined enough to achieve something big.

I had no option. I didn’t have much of a chance with lower government jobs because they are mostly fixed, neither could I start a business because I had no money. The only thing I could do was work hard at my studies.

An 11 year old Govind did not know what it took to become an IAS officer, but he knew he would do his every bit to see himself where he wanted to be. Belonging to a lower middle class family, he knew that he didn’t have any other option except clearing the most prestigious exam in very first attempt. Govind Jaiswal started spending most of his time in studying. With a power cut of 14 hours daily he used to study by shutting off all the windows of the room and inserting cotton in the ears to counter with the noise of generators running in the locality. Govind Jaiswal studied in a government school and college and took advantage of the students’ library. His father somehow managed a maths tuition for him by investing all his hard work, energy and courage to make his son’s dream come true. Later, on completion of graduation, Govind was sent to Delhi with Rs. 40,000 that his father managed by selling his only remaining piece of land. Govind Jaiswal studied 18 hours a day to ensure that his father’s investment doesn’t go in vain.

The life in the Delhi was not easy for Govind Jaiswal. Along with his studies, he started taking tuition to reduce some financial burden of his father. He often skipped one or two meals a day to save money and worked harder to crack the civil service exam. Unlike other toppers, Govind Jaiswal just had one shot in life, just one.

The pressure was so much, forget eating, I even forgot to have water in the days leading to the interview, so much so that I developed an extreme anxiety condition which took two years of medication to heal.

As Govind Jaiswal got the news of clearing the civil service exam, there were nonstop tears running out from the eyes. For the first few minutes his hands were not working according to his command, when he tried to give this news to his father. His father spent an entire hour crying outside a temple in Varanasi. It was one of those moments in life where speech is completely unnecessary.

Govind Jaiswal has proved that where there is will there is a way. He changed his fate by the hard work and strong determination and hence, inspiring many youngsters to do something big in life, especially the students coming from economically weaker sections of the society.

A post graduate in Economics, Kakoli Partha Mahanta worked for corporate finance sector for about 7 years. Mother of a cute 2 year baby girl, Kakoli is currently located in Bangalore, India, flourishing her writing skill.

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